Thursday, November 19, 2009

Iraq war and nation-building have been expensive

The war has been huge for Iraqis, especially in terms of lives lost and forever changed by violence. For America the war in Iraq has also been very expensive. America's increased debt as a result of the war will only help China and other US creditors, whose US treasury bonds will no doubt be repaid with interest by our (Americans') kids and grandkids. The deaths of 4,365 American soldiers and tens of thousands of wounded understandably compels ordinary Americans to question whether the war in Iraq was worth it. In terms of financial costs alone, this war has been very different from the war of 1991, which was paid for by the Saudis and Kuwaitis.

American military service members — 3 more than last week — have died since the war began in 2003, according to the US Department of Defense. A total of 13,883 have suffered injuries serious enough to keep them from returning to duty.

$8.5

billion is the cost of food and other products Kuwait-based contractor Public Warehousing Co. KSC delivered to US and coalition soldiers in the past 6 years, allegedly under fraudulent, inflated bills and false claims on contracts, according to a criminal indictment handed down Monday, the Washington Post reported.

1.5

is the rating Iraq received on a scale of 10 in Transparency International’s annual corruption report, putting the war-torn country in a dead heat with Sudan for the fourth-most corrupt nation, Voice of America reported Tuesday.

$333.4

million is how much Pasadena taxpayers have contributed to the Iraq war since it began, enough to fund 998 affordable housing units, according to the National Priorities Project.'

Baghdad in 2000: "A woman known as Um Haydar was beheaded reportedly without charge or trial at the end of December 2000. She was 25 years' old and married with three children. Her husband was sought by the security authorities reportedly because of his involvement in Islamist armed activities against the state. He managed to flee the country. Men belonging to Feda'iyye Saddam came to the house in al-Karrada district and found his wife, children and his mother. Um Haydar was taken to the street and two men held her by the arms and a third pulled her head from behind and beheaded her in front of the residents. The beheading was also witnessed by members of the Ba'ath Party in the area. The security men took the body and the head in a plastic bag, and took away the children and the mother-in-law. The body of Um Haydar was later buried in al-Najaf. The fate of the children and the mother-in-law remains unknown."